The author reflects on a week spent in Beaver Dam, WI, their hometown, discussing the concept of belonging. Reconnecting with the community, they participated in a program by AAUW and enjoyed heartfelt interactions with locals, including old friends and neighbors. Despite the loss of parents, the warmth of the community reaffirmed their sense of belonging. Continue reading My hometown
Earlier this month I spent time with the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and gave the keynote for their 54th annual luncheon. For more than half a century, these faith leaders and practitioners from different traditions have been coming together to build relationships and connections in good times, knowing that sometimes we encounter bumps in the road. And when those bumps occur, we can navigate … Continue reading Interfaith
Earlier this summer, we spent time with Urban Rural Action in Kenosha, WI, as they worked with a coalition of community leaders and concerned citizens who explored ways to prevent targeted violence, and especially in this season, political violence. It’s a conversation that is important to the area. There has been some difficult history. In nearby Oak Creek, a 2012 mass shooting at a Sikh … Continue reading Bridging
I’m catching up with posting new content. We’ve been so busy doing the work lately that I haven’t found time to talk about the work. This spring we spent time at NWTC in Green Bay. It’s the 4th time we’ve been to that campus and this time we spread out to include engagements at their Shawano and Marinette campuses. We installed exhibits in each community … Continue reading NWTC
This year we partnered with the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) as they were working to build deeper conversations around race and how to be a more welcoming, inclusive community. Dr. King famously said that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours in Christian America. And as a member of the ELCA, I can … Continue reading included or excluded?
I pulled into the drive for Everwood Farmstead on a warm afternoon, feeling the luxury of time at the start of a week-long artist’s retreat and the self-imposed pressure of wanting to use it well. In my backpack was a partially finished manuscript. The first two hundred pages were pretty well crafted, the last hundred trailed off into notes and incomplete thoughts. The bones of … Continue reading Everwood
We visited Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, WI last month. It was the fourth time we have worked with their Office of Student Involvement and there’s something special about coming back to a community where you’ve been before. We asked students and staff, “How do you seek understanding of others during these divisive times?” The process needs to be intentional. The Hippocratic Oath … Continue reading Understanding
Sandy Gokee is Anishinaabe—Bear Clan—and lives in Ashland, Wisconsin. For the interview, we sat outside at a park overlooking Lake Superior as a storm skirted around us, so you might hear a little wind and maybe even thunder in the recording. Sandy introduces herself in her native language, Ojibwemowin. Her Ojibwe name, Wenipashtaabe, means “She Carries a Light Load. She shares her concerns about the … Continue reading Wenipashtaabe – Sandy Gokee
Mary Dougherty lives in Bayfield, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. As she says, just about as far north as you can go in the state without getting wet. She is the author of “Life in a Northern Town: Cooking, Eating, and Other Adventures along Lake Superior.” We talked about preserving the watershed of the world’s largest fresh water lake and how we need … Continue reading Mary Dougherty
Mike Radtke is the operations manager for the Madeline Island Ferry Line in Bayfield, Wisconsin. He started there as a captain and over the past 32 years, he has made the 20-minute, 2.5 mile journey between the mainland and the island thousands of times. We talked about his observations of how Lake Superior has changed through the years, his family’s long-time habit of hosting international exchange students … Continue reading Mike Radtke
